Once Upon A Time
by I heart Sesshomaru
Summary: It was her. The one he had promised to marry so long ago. Sakura Haruno. ItaSaku
1. Prologue: The Promise

**Once Upon A Time**

Prologue

"_The Promise"_

_-x-_

_It's over now_

_What have you done?_

_- Within Temptation_

-x-

"Ita-kun!"

A boy around 10 years old turned to see a young girl with bubble gum pink hair running towards him. A small smile played across his face as he dug his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to reach him. Her face was lit with a large smile, a dark red ribbon tied in her hair to keep her bangs back. She finally came to a halt in front of the older boy and leaned her hands on her knees panting.

"Yes Sakura?" Itachi asked.

Sakura looked up with a smirk on her face. Her green eyes squinted against the sunlight and it took her a few seconds before the boy in front of her came into focus. His long black hair was tied in a low pony. His eyes, which at first glance looked black but were actually dark blue, stared down at her blankly. Sakura finally stood up but had to crane her neck to see Itachi's face. She just reached his elbow.

"Itachi-kun, you promised me you'd help me with my flower arrangement today remember?" Sakura said.

Itachi frowned slightly. He forgot. He closed his eyes and mentally sighed. He was hoping he could train today. He had no time to pick flowers, especially with a 6 year old.

"Sakura, I'll be no help to you. I'm a boy, I know nothing of flowers." He said. "Why don't you get your blonde friend to help you?"

Sakura scrunched up her face. There he goes again, making up excuses. Well she wasn't going to let him get out of it.

"Ino can't… she's um, helping her parents at their shop." Sakura lied. "And besides, you promised! Didn't you say Uchiha's never back out on their word?"

Itachi couldn't help but smirk. Well, she did have a point there. But still, picking flowers? Uchiha's didn't pick flowers.

"Well…" Itachi begun.

Damn, and now she was pouting.

'_There's no helping it I suppose.'_ Itachi thought with a sigh.

"Fine." Itachi said in defeat. "But only for a little while."

Sakura yelled with excitement and jumped up and down. Itachi couldn't help but smile as he watched the girl's display of happiness. She was just too darn cute for her own good. He remembered when they first met, she had been so shy. She could hardly even look at him without madly blushing. But as time went by she grew more comfortable around him, and more confident. Sakura then grabbed his hand and started leading him to a nearby field. She then got into talking about something that had happened to her earlier. Itachi just smiled pleasantly not really paying attention. He made sure to nod his head every once in a while to keep up an act of listening.

For some reason unknown to him, he had a weak spot for the girl. He didn't act this way towards anyone else. Hell, he didn't even act this way towards his own younger brother. But when she looked up at him with those pleading eyes he couldn't say no.

'_Some ninja I am.'_ Itachi scoffed.

When they reached the flower filled field, Sakura let go of Itachi's hand to run around laughing loudly. She chased a couple of butterflies around before running back to Itachi.

'_How can she be so care free?' _he wondered as he stared down at her smiling face.

He thought back to when he was her age. He had never been able to act like a kid. As soon as he could walk his father started training him in the ways of the shinobi.

"Ok Itachi-kun! Let's get started!" Sakura exclaimed loudly.

"Hn." Itachi said boredly and followed after the young girl.

She ran around for a bit picking up a few flowers and checking with him to make sure they were the right ones. Of course Itachi didn't actually know if they were right or not, to him they were just flowers.

"Ah! These were the flowers Ino was telling me about. They're called cosmos. Aren't they pretty Itachi-kun?" Sakura asked and held the white flower out for him to see.

He gazed at the flower boredly but nodded his head. Sakura giggled before placing the flower in the pouch she wore around her thigh.

"One time Ino threw a bunch of them into this one girl's mouth and told her they were poisonous." Sakura said. "You should have seen her face. It was so funny."

"Why did she do that?" Itachi asked before sitting down.

"She teased me about my forehead." Sakura said bitterly.

Ah, Sakura's forehead. She got teased about it a lot. Though Itachi found himself admitting it was rather large for one so small. That was one of the reason's her self-esteem was so low.

"Well, it is rather big." Itachi said teasingly.

"Shut up meanie!" Sakura yelled with tears in her eyes.

Itachi flinched. He hated when she cried. It could be quite annoying. He sighed before motioning for her to come over to him. She hesitated before slowly walking over to the sitting boy. When she was about a foot away from him she stopped. Even though Itachi was sitting down, he was still about an inch taller than her. He brought his hand up and tapped her in the middle of the forehead, much like he did to his brother, only more gently.

"I was just playing Sakura." He said. "I happen to like your forehead."

Sakura sniffed. "Really?"

"Really." Itachi said. "It's one of the things that make you, you. Don't let anyone make you feel bad about it."

He then reached up to wipe away a single tear that fell as she smiled.

"Ita-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Hm?" Itachi said softly.

"Thank you." Sakura said before wrapping her small arms around his neck.

Itachi casually wrapped one arm around her back before letting go.

"Ita-kun, can I ask you something?" Sakura asked as she pulled back.

"What?"

"When we grow up… will you marry me?" Sakura asked with a blush.

"What?" Itachi asked shocked.

"Itachi-kun, you're the only person other than Ino who isn't mean to me." Sakura said growing more bold. "I… you're my best friend! And when we grow up… I…"

Itachi laughed as Sakura struggled to find words. Really, she was just too cute. Marry her huh? Well, there were worse things.

"Ok." Itachi agreed.

"Really!?" Sakura asked with a large smile.

Itachi nodded his head and held out his pinky. Sakura wrapped her tiny pinky around his. It was a promise. Itachi chuckled and ruffled her hair as he stood up. The sun was almost at the horizon, he didn't notice how much time they had spent here.

"Come on Sakura, it's time to go home." Itachi said and walked off.

"Coming Ita-kun!" Sakura said happily and ran after the older boy.

-

---------**Three Years Later**---------------------

-

Sakura ran through the streets of Konoha on her way to the Academy. She slowed down as she passed the Uchiha's section of the village and saw Sasuke run through the front gates. Even though he was Itachi's brother and in her class at the Academy, she never really talked to him before. All the other girls in her class were head over heels in love with him, and while Sakura admitted he was cute, she couldn't help but like Itachi better. Her eyes turned from Sasuke's retreating figure to look down the Uchiha's street. She hadn't seen Itachi in a couple of weeks.

She hadn't seen him much in the last few months actually. Ever since he joined ANBU, he was always away on missions. And when he wasn't he seemed distant. Sakura frowned as she continued down the street, she was beginning to worry about him. Just then she spotted a group of masked men walking down the street. When she spotted the man in the crow mask she smiled.

"Itachi-kun!" she shouted and waved.

Itachi stopped and looked over at her. The rest of the ANBU squad continued on. Sakura stopped in front of him and gazed into his masked face.

"I know you're probably tired from your mission, but I haven't seen you in a long time so I just wanted to say hi." She said.

Itachi lifted up his mask and stared down at her with a blank expression, but Sakura could see hesitation in his eyes. Something felt wrong.

"What's wrong Ita-kun?" Sakura asked worried.

Itachi didn't reply right away but instead stared down at her with hesitation and some other expression she couldn't name in his eyes.

"Nothing Sakura, just tired is all." He replied coolly.

"Are you sure? You've been acting really strange lately." Sakura said with a small frown.

Itachi suddenly bent down so he could look her in the eyes.

"Sakura, you know I care about you right?" he asked.

"Of course I do. And I care about you too." Sakura said slightly confused by his change in behavior.

He then pulled her into a hug. After a few seconds Sakura wrapped her arms around him.

"Itachi-kun, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before letting her go and standing up.

"Sorry for what?" she asked confused.

Itachi turned around and began walking away.

"You're going to be late." He said over his shoulder.

Sakura stood in the middle of the semi-busy street and watched him walk away. She had no idea that that was the last time she would see him.

-

-----------------------------------------------------

-

Sakura woke up the next morning and went through her daily routine. She showered, got changed, had breakfast, packed her bag, said goodbye to her parents, and ran out the door. She followed the same route she did everyday, but when she reached the Uchiha compound she found she couldn't get through. There was a huge crowd taking up the entire street. There were worried whispers all around her but she was only able to catch snippets of conversation.

"… Dead… "

"… One survived…"

"… Happened last night… "

"… He killed them …"

"… Who? …"

"… Itachi Uchiha …"

Sakura gasped. No… it couldn't be true. She started pushing against the crowd, desperate to get through. It was a lie… maybe she heard wrong? She squeezed through people, closer and closer. She could see the gates with the Uchiha symbol. All around her she could hear people saying the same thing. All dead. He killed them. Itachi Uchiha. She was near the front now, she could see people in jounin outfits, even some in ANBU. She was just about to burst from the crowd when someone grabbed her shoulder.

"Whoa there, this isn't something kids should see."

But it was too late, she had already caught a glimpse of bodies under white sheets stained with blood.

"The young Sasuke Uchiha survived. He's in the hospital now they say, in shock. Poor thing, can you imagine? Your entire family being killed by your own brother. Of course he fled. They sent four squads of ANBU black OPS out to search for him, but he's probably long gone. And he seemed like such a nice boy too…." someone standing next to Sakura said.

Sakura didn't hear a reply because right after that she fainted.

-

-------------------------------------------------

-

Sakura laid in her bed later that night with silent tears streaming down her face. The angry words of her father ran through her head.

"I can't believe it! We let Sakura be alone with that boy!"

'_Why Itachi-kun? Why did you do it?'_ she asked. '_What happened to you?'_

With that Sakura rolled over and fell asleep. She dreamt of butterflies and flowers, and of a boy who once upon a time, promised to marry her.

-

**Edited: Oct. 4, 2007**


	2. Chapter 1: Seven Years Later

**Once Upon A Time**

Chapter One

"_Seven Years Later"_

_-x-_

_Was it a dream?_

_Was it a dream?_

_Is this the only evidence that proves it?_

_A photograph of you and I_

_30 Seconds To Mars_

-x-

"Naruto hold still!" Sakura yelled as she grabbed the boys' finger.

"But Sakura-chan! It hurts!" Naruto whined with a frown.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the blonde boy. Seriously, he was acting like a 2 year old.

"Naruto, it's a paper cut. For crying out loud you've had worse injuries!" Sakura said exasperated. "If you would stop moving I could heal it and then it wouldn't hurt anymore."

Naruto finally stopped squirming around. Sakura wrapped her hand around his finger and concentrated all her chakra into the tiny cut. It was gone in less than a second.

"There you go you wimp." Sakura said and stood up.

Naruto smirked and stood up as well. Sakura still couldn't get used to the fact that he was taller than her now. In the 3 years they had been apart he had shot up like a weed. His sky blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

"It didn't actually hurt." Naruto said. "I just wanted you to play nurse to me."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. Why that creep. She was about to give him a piece of her mind but the boy disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Sakura continued to stare at the place he had just been while shaking her head. That boy would never change. She turned and was about to walk out of her room when something caught her eye. It was her Team 7 picture, forgotten and shoved behind her other picture frames. She walked over to her desk and picked up the dusty frame. She smiled as her eyes roamed over Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, herself and finally… Sasuke. She frowned slightly as she looked at the black haired boy. It had been 3 years since he had run off to Orochimaru seeking power to kill Itachi. It had been 7 years since Itachi had murdered the entire Uchiha clan and disappeared.

'_What is it with the Uchiha's?' _Sakura wondered.

Itachi. No matter how much time had gone by, he still managed to slip into her thoughts every now and again. She went over their last encounter so many times trying to figure out what he had been thinking. Why had he done it? What had happened to him that caused him to kill his entire family? It wasn't something that had happened overnight. No, Sakura had noticed the change slowly creeping over him. Now she wished she had done something about it. Asked him about it maybe? But no, he was never one to open up to others, not even her.

'_There's no point agonizing over it again.' _She told herself. '_There was nothing you could've done.'_

She thought back to the last time she had heard of Itachi, close to four years ago when he had come looking for Naruto.

_Sakura entered the hospital room that Sasuke was currently occupying. Naruto had tracked her down to tell her the Uchiha had been hospitalized. When Sakura asked why he didn't answer. The two of them were now standing beside his bed staring at the unconscious boy. _

"_His brother." Naruto said suddenly. _

"_What?" Sakura asked, her heart skipping a beat. _

"_Itachi. Itachi did that to him. He was here, in the village" _

_Sakura's knees gave out and she grabbed onto Naruto for support. _

She nearly had a heart attack when she learned he had returned. Of course she never let anyone see the panic she felt on the inside. No one, not even Sasuke, knew of her former friendship with the elder Uchiha. Well, besides her parents, but they never brought it up. And she wanted to keep it that way.

Sakura set the picture back down. She then turned and walked back over to her bed. She bent down and lifted the bed skirt up to reveal an old shoe box. She reached and pulled the box out and sat back to open up the lid. There wasn't much inside; just a few things she kept from her childhood. There was the ribbon Ino had given her. Ino gave it back once they stopped fighting. Beside the ribbon was a picture.

Sakura picked it up and smiled. It was the only picture she had of Itachi. She remembered that day. Her mother had taken her to the park and they ran into Itachi on his way home. Her mother had just gotten a camera for her birthday and she asked Itachi if he would mind being in one with Sakura. The boy sighed but agreed. He and Sakura talked for a bit before he went on his way and she and her mother stayed.

Sakura set the picture down and was just about to close the box when something caught her eye. She lifted up the ribbon and underneath was a kunai. She cocked her head curiously and picked up the weapon. She turned it over in her hand a couple times before she saw something at the top of the handle. It was the Uchiha clan symbol she had seen so many times on Sasuke's shirt. Her eyes widened as she remembered.

_It was Sakura's 7__th__ birthday and she had just recently started ninja academy. She was on her way home, excited about presents and cake when she ran into Itachi. _

"_Happy birthday Sakura." He said with a smile. _

"_Thank you Itachi-kun!" Sakura said happily. _

"_I have a present for you." He said and reached into his weapons pouch. _

"_Really? You got me something?" she asked in awe._

_Itachi pulled out a kunai and held it out to her. She hesitantly took it and looked up at Itachi curiously. _

"_You're in ninja academy now aren't you? When you fully become a ninja you can use this. It's my lucky kunai. You'll never miss a shot with it." Itachi said. _

"_Oh Itachi-kun, I can't take this. Not if it's your lucky one." Sakura said and held it back out to him but he pushed her hand away. _

"_No Sakura, take it. I insist." Itachi said. _

"_Thank you so much Itachi-kun!" Sakura said happily. _

_Itachi lightly tapped her on the forehead with a small smile._

"_You better get going. Your mother will be worried." Itachi said. _

_Sakura nodded and ran past the boy, waving as she went. _

Sakura smiled sadly before putting the ribbon back in the box and putting the box back underneath the bed. The kunai she put in her weapons pouch.

-

-------------------------------------------

-

Itachi leaned lazily against a tree, one foot propped up against the bark. His red and black cloak was currently open and was fluttering slightly in the small breeze. His head was down and his long bangs were hanging in his face. His eyes were closed. He was suffering from a migraine from hell. He had been getting them quite often lately; he figured it had something to do with his deteriorating eyesight.

"_Want one?" Sakura asked and held out a carrot to him. _

"_No, I don't eat carrots." Itachi replied with a grimace. _

"_Really? You should. They're good for your eyes." Sakura said with a smile before she bit into said vegetable. _

Itachi frowned. Where the hell had _that_ come from? He hadn't thought of Sakura in years.

"Itachi, we going soon?" the shark like Kisame asked in a bored voice.

Itachi's eyes opened to reveal red pupils. He looked up slightly at his partner before pushing himself off the tree, all thoughts of his former friend pushed from his mind.

"Let's go." he said as he walked by.

He heard Kisame grunt before footsteps sounded behind him. Pein was getting impatient with them. Itachi mentally scoffed. It wasn't his fault that the boy was surrounded by so many ridiculously strong ninja.

"_Itachi, we need the boy. I am patient, but even I have my limits."_ Pein's smooth deep voice echoed in his mind.

He didn't like having someone breathing down his neck like that. It reminded him of his father. And thoughts of his family just dug up things he didn't want to remember.

His head throbbed.

"Another headache?" Kisame asked in a taunting voice.

"Shut up Kisame." Itachi replied emotionlessly.

Kisame chuckled.

"You know, if you let me chop off that pretty head of yours you won't have to worry about headaches anymore." Kisame said.

Itachi glared over at Kisame as he let out a belting laugh. Once Kisame's laughter died down they walked in silence. According to their sources, Naruto was no longer under Jiraiya's care. As long as it was only Kakashi, Itachi was positive that this time they would succeed.

* * *

**Edited: Oct. 7, 2007**


	3. Chapter 2: Building Storm

**Once Upon A Time**

Chapter Two

"_A Building Storm"_

_-_

_x_

_-_

_So bring on the rain_

_Oh bring on the pain_

_And listen to the thunder_

_- Boys Like Girls_

-

x

-

"Yo, old lady Tsunade. Do you have a mission for us or not?" Naruto asked as he, Sakura, Kakashi and their newest member Sai stood in front of the desk.

"You're so impatient Naruto." Tsunade scolded as she flipped through a mission's book.

"Well it's not my fault you're so old you can hardly move." Naruto teased.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Sakura crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Naruto was the only person who was able to say stuff like that to Tsunade without being beaten to a pulp.

"Ah, finally I think I've found one." Tsunade said. "It'll require you to go to the Sand village."

"Eh? For what?" Naruto asked.

"It seems that recently they've lost quite a few nin's on missions. They need some assistance." Tsunade said.

"So what do you guys think?" Kakashi asked.

"I think we should go!" Sakura said. "If they need our help we can't just sit around and do nothing."

"I agree. If Gaara needs our help then I'll go." Naruto said.

"Then it's settled. You guys will leave today. Now get out of my sight." Tsunade said.

The four quickly exited the room in fear of the elder woman's wrath. Kakashi led in front with Naruto and Sakura behind him. Sai stayed a few paces back. This was Sakura's first mission since Naruto had left. Team Kakashi was together once again, save for Sasuke. Sakura looked over her shoulder at Sai who was staring blankly down at the floor. He was a bit…odd, but seemed like a nice enough guy. Naruto seemed to have a problem with him though. Deep down Sakura resented him too. He would never take Sasuke's place.

"Ok everyone. Get everything you need and we'll meet at the gate in an hour." Kakashi said.

"You mean two and a half your time." Sakura said emotionlessly.

Kakashi let out a guilty chuckle but said nothing.

-

-----------------------------------

-

At the end of two and a half hours, they only needed to wait 20 more minutes till they saw their gray haired ex-sensei lazily walking towards them with his face stuck in the latest Icha Icha book.

"So Kakashi, did you find out any more information on why the Sand village is losing all their ninjas?" Naruto asked as the four made their way out of Konoha.

"No, I'm afraid we'll have to wait to get more information from Gaara." Kakashi said never looking up from his book.

"It'll be good to see Gaara again." Naruto said and Sakura nodded her head in agreement.

If you had told Sakura when she first met Gaara that they'd end up being friends she would've laughed in your face. He had been quite serial killer-ish back in the days of their first chuunin exam until Naruto had literally knocked some sense into him.

'_If someone like Gaara can change then maybe there's hope for…'_ Sakura sighed as an image of the elder Uchiha flashed before her eyes.

No what was she thinking. The boy she knew was long gone. He killed his entire family! He tortured Sasuke and Kakashi and now he was after Naruto for the nine tailed fox in him. And if they ever met in the future he probably wouldn't hesitate to kill her either. She had to get all these stupid thoughts out of her mind. They were enemies now. And if for some godforsaken reason she ever went against him in battle and won, she would be expected to kill him.

'_But could I?'_

_-_

----------------------------------------------

-

"Ah man. How much longer till we get there?" Naruto whined.

Team Kakashi had set out from Konoha two days earlier and Naruto was already complaining. Mostly because he hadn't packed enough ramen and was now currently out.

"I'd say we'll get there at around noon tomorrow." Kakashi replied.

He was looking boredly up at the sky, hands dug into his pockets. He had finished his Icha Icha book a couple hours ago and was now finding the journey to be quite dull.

"You're not the only one walking Naruto, suck it up." Sakura said.

Naruto sent a glare in Sakura's direction but remained silent. Sai looked back and forth between Sakura and Naruto with an amused glint in his eye.

"It's going to rain." Kakashi suddenly said.

Sakura and Naruto both looked up at the cloudless blue sky and then gave each other confused glances.

"In about an hour or so I'd say." Sai said.

The three other team members jumped slightly having forgotten he was there.

"I don't know what you two are talking about." Naruto said. "There are no clouds around anywhere."

But sure enough thunder could be heard faintly in the distance.

-

-------------------------------------

-

Kisame looked up at the darkened sky as thunder echoed around them.

"It's about to rain." He said.

Itachi stopped walking to look up at the sky. A soft drizzle started falling.

"It looks like a big storm is coming." He said.

The two silently walked into the shadow's of the forest. They were currently at the edge between the Fire Country and the Wind Country. The forest abruptly stopped and miles of desert stretched out before them.

"Do you think he'll come?" Kisame asked as he stared down at the back of his partner's head.

"I'm positive." Itachi replied emotionlessly.

"Alright." Kisame said with a nod. "As long as we're not wasting our time."

"Hn." Itachi said before going silent.

The two men continued to walk in silence.

-

--------------------------------------------------------

-

The sky was now filled with dark gray rain clouds and a cool breeze blew around every now and again pushing the clouds further along. Sakura let out a sigh. The rest of this trip wasn't going to be fun at all. Along with the storm, Naruto was sure to complain the rest of the way. Sakura took her water jug from its holder on her hip and took a long gulp. She flinched slightly as a raindrop fell on her face.

"I hope this storm isn't too bad." She said.

"We're almost at the edge of the forest. We might be forced to wait it out because the desert will have no shelter." Kakashi said.

The forest had become very dark. The canopies overlapped with each other blocking out what little sun got through the thick clouds above. Lightning flashed and illuminated the shadows before thunder rumbled. Sakura cringed despite herself. She _hated_ lightning and thunder. She tried to explain to herself that it was a silly thing to fear. All it was was molecules in the clouds rubbing against each other… what's to be afraid of? But it had never worked and she still winced every time she heard the loud boom of thunder. Another flash of lightning lit the forest up and for a second Sakura could've sworn she saw someone leaning against a tree… but when lightning flashed again there was no one there. She felt a chill run down her spine.

"Kakashi, do you sense anyone close by?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi was silent for a second and Sakura knew he was concentrating.

"Nope. Why?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh nothing. I just thought I saw someone but I guess it was just a shadow." Sakura said and waved her hand in the air.

"Well you can never be too sure. Keep alert everyone." Kakashi said.

Sakura nodded. It still felt like she was being watched but she couldn't sense anyone around. Another flash of lightning, but it was gone too fast for Sakura to see the pair of red eyes.

-

--------------------------------------------------

-

Itachi watched Team 7 walk by from the shadows. He had been just about to reveal himself to the unaware ninja's, when the girl with them looked over in his direction just as lightning lit up the sky. It had been too dark before for him to notice the bubble gum pink hair. It wasn't some random kunoichi like he had thought… it was _her_. Sakura Haruno. When his eyes had met unknowingly with her emerald ones he had hesitated. Now they were aware that someone was lurking about in the darkness.

"Itachi? What's wrong?" Kisame asked from behind him.

He remained silent. Any chance of a surprise attack was washed down the drain. Still, if they didn't attack now they might not be presented with another chance. The only one he was concerned with was Kakashi. He didn't recognize the other boy with them, but he didn't really care who he was. Naruto… he might be more of a problem now that he had been training under Jiraiya.

Sakura…

Itachi turned and started walking away, brushing against Kisame as he walked past.

"Oi, Itachi. What are you doing? The boy's in the other direction. Are you that blind now?" Kisame asked.

"They have sensed our presence." Itachi said ignoring his previous question. "We'll keep our distance and watch them from afar. When they return, we'll attack then."

Kisame raised an eyebrow in confusion.

'_I don't think his eyesight is the only thing he's losing.'_ Kisame thought before following after the shorter man.

* * *

**Edited: Oct. 7, 2007**


End file.
